Muffs and beards in Wheaten-Blue Wheaten

[Karen Warner]

I have been working with my Wheatens-Blue Wheatens for 3 years.  As with my blues, they are a work in progress.  Try as I have, I have been unsuccessful in getting Mb to be black or blue to the skin.  The feathers are white in the fluff.  Please help.  I totally love this variety.

I have been focusing on type, but the beards are a distraction.  I have and am still trying to get a couple of great cock birds with solid Mb’s but they are difficult to find around here.

[Steve Neumann]

Do they grow back in with white after the first adult molt when they are  ~ 1 1/2 years old?

[Karen Warner]

Yes, they do.  Even on the older males, there is white fluff in their beards.

[Russ Blair]

Any multicolor bird I raise I always wait until after there 2 to decide if they are keepers for breeding. I have noticed they can drastically change between 1 and 2 when they molt. This goes for Silvers, Wheaten and Brown Reds oh and blue wheaten

[Mike Gilbert]

I don't consider it a serious problem, as it is the same as undercolor in wheatens.   I would be more concerned with the black hackle striping, and the shortage of orange color in the wing bay.    If you can get all-black ( or blue in blue wheatens) muffs, that's great.   I have seen them, usually in bantams with an all black wing bay.   But I have always felt there were more important flaws to work on.  It's just another reason why it is so much easier to win with an all black or all white bird.